By Hiroshi Hiyama ,AFP
November 29, 2014, 12:03 am TWN
TOKYO -- Japan released a string of lackluster economic data Friday with inflation hitting its lowest level for more than a year, dealing another blow to Tokyo's attempts to conquer years of falling prices and tepid growth.
The figures come after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election and delayed a sales tax hike set for next year after a previous levy increase hammered spending and pushed the world's number three economy into recession.
Japanese consumer inflation came in at 2.9 percent in October compared with a year earlier, official data showed, matching market forecasts but slowing from 3.0 percent in September.
Prices mainly rose largely because Tokyo raised the sales tax from 5.0 percent to 8.0 percent on April 1.
Adjusted for the hike, nationwide core inflation rate came in at 0.9 percent, against 1.0 percent in the previous month and its lowest level since October 2013.
The weak reading makes the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) 2.0 percent inflation target — which it initially aimed to hit in 2015 — look increasingly out of reach.
The BOJ shocked markets last month by saying it would expand its asset-buying stimulus program to about 80 trillion yen (US$676 billion) annually, in a bid to overcome deflation and kickstart the economy.
“Even despite the BOJ's surprise move, we maintain our view that there is a very long way to go before achieving the +2.0 percent target,” Credit Agricole said.
Also Friday, figures showed factory production in October edged up a better-than-expected 0.2 percent on-month, the second straight increase, as exports improved.
“It is a positive set of data that hints at hopes for future recovery in production,” SMBC Nikko Securities said in a note.
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